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Reinvent Copyright Rules in the Film Industry

What copyright rules need to change in order for a new, sustainable film industry to emerge?Intellectual property laws rarely capture the public’s attention. They’re dense and esoteric and, well—not very sexy. But they have long been crucial to the film industry’s profitable business model. Increasingly, however, there’s a growing debate between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over the rules governing how and where creative works can be used. More than a century ago early filmmakers, including Thomas Edison, regularly adapted novels and plays into short movies without the permission of the author and without paying royalties. Fast-forward to the present when new technologies, distribution platforms, and a remix culture that threatens to redefine the definition of an original work could again reshape the foundational legal structure of the movie business.